Open Mind Saturated Brain

ZEGEMA BEACH RECORDS

Wednesday, 30 March 2016

RESPIRE is a band from Toronto, Ontario and is comprised of six amazing individuals playing a concoction of three guitars, bass, drums, vocals and a trumpet that end up sounding not like an epic post-hardcore meets screamo and black metal band, but a hybrid of of those three genres and so much more in a very cohesive formula that drips of maturity and patience. Check out the new song "Ascent" on the Zegema Beach Records bandcamp stream and/or jam it below with the embedded youtube link.

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RESPIRE boasts 75% of Foxmoulder with three additional members for a total of six. "Ascent" comes right out of the gate with the trumpet, and goddamn that's the RESPIRE I know and love. Frantic drumming, rolling bass and three intertwined guitars over numerous screams and that unmistakable horn that catapults the band into uncharted territory of ridiculousness. About a third of the way through the song you'll hear the obvious softcore porn part that comes right ouf of the 1980s. The last third of the song is an excellent, mostly instrumental, denouement. If you're wondering what the songs sounds like live you can watch the embedded video below for "Ascent", and it translates really fucking well. See it for yourself...

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There is a demo song for the 12" that was abandoned and released on the Zampler #4 - Flip Six Three Hole cdr sampler back in January of 2015 called "Anthem For Falling Stars" which I've linked here for download and embedded below for streaming.

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Here's a live video of "Nihil" from the 2014 'Demonstration' EP (linked here), which has been rerecorded for the 'Gravity and Grace' LP with a name change to "Eternal Nothing". It's easily one of the best RESPIRE songs and a beautiful and crushing example of what the band has to offer. Watch it below.

You can download: the March Mix#3 right hereor get the new April 2016 Mix#4 here.

A few years ago I stumbled across the vocal styling of two bands that shared the same vocalist, Canvas and CALL IT ARSON, only for it to look like both had disbanded. As I sat down to write this review I came across CALL IT ARSON's youtube and new bandcamp page that were only updated in early 2016 with everything the band ever recorded. I was under the impression that CALL IT ARSON recorded 'The Animal Strings Album' and that was the extent of their written and recorded material. Good news, this is not the case. CALL IT ARSON dropped 7 "releases" over the past decade and a bit. All of them sound vaguely similar without rehashing and repeating the same songs. If you can imagine Waxwing, Mansions and Criteria playing mostly somber numbers (hmmmm, only Criteria play upbeat anyway) with relatively minimal instrumentation centered around vocals soaked in passion, much like Rocky Votolato, then this should be right up your alley. They definitely take the rock approach at times and do it very well, but it's always the vocals that really catch my attention, much like Modern Rifles, Bright Eyes and Waxwing as the crooning and warbling end up sounding fucking excellent. Considering CALL IT ARSON is still active I'm excited to hear what's next.

You can download: the March Mix#3 right hereor get the new April 2016 Mix#4 here.

Started in 2001 as a music collective and solidifying as a concrete band lineup in 2009, Berlin's THE OCEAN is a metal/post-metal powerhouse. I first heard the band because I caught wind that Caleb Scofield from Cave In, Zozobra and Old Man Gloom was making a guest appearance (which he does on ("Orosirian"). I was into the band for a good couple of years during my early Hydra Head Records days, but have since found the style to have lost much of its luster. The multi-headed hydra of genres is based upon a metal body but branches out into classical, sludge, hardcore, instrumental and rock. The band is generally extremely heavy with multiple vocalists screaming and growling as well as lots of mathy metal instrumental, breakdowns and solos that are based on faster metal as opposed to slower, jamming post-hardcore. Like most bands, their early work is almost exclusively aggressive with screamy/growly vocals which then shifted to more and more clean singing. I certainly have lost touch with the band, but I saw they recently had a split with Mono whom I love so I'm going to check that out and perhaps fall back in with the band. It's two days later...nope, still not digging that singing.

If you like your metal and hardcore to the extreme I would strongly recommend THE OCEAN but the diversity may also give way to a few things you dislike - at least that was the case with me.

Label(s): Skeletal LightningThis post's artist is from the March 2016 Mix. This is track #6.

You can download: the March Mix#3 right hereor get the new April 2016 Mix#4 here.

GUPPY is a new band from Kalamazoo in Michigan. It consists of members of The Reptilian, Seventeen Again, Shoto, Anybody But The Cops and Short Life. The music is quite eclectic and pulls from a myriad of sources including Sonic Youth, Dinosaur Jr., Autolux, and Cloud Nothings. The style, or should I say styles as there is a variety of songs by the band, come across as one fluid clusterfuck of emo, rock and grunge. The six-song 'We Grow Small, We Grow Stupid' is a very promising debut that is highlighted by the playful, catchy, heavy and post-hardcore influenced "B'jinx'd" for which they made a sweet video that you can check out here on Vimeo. I love the gruff vocals with a tad of melody buried in there, as Dan intertwines them with the music and it ends up sounding really good. The EP was released by Skeletal Lightning and limited to 100 copies which you can grab from the label here and I've also got a copy in the ZBR distro which is having the 50% off sale for another few hours here. The band is currently 7 songs into a debut LP that they hope to record this summer of 2016 and also have a show coming up this weekend in Kalamazoo which I've linked here.

You can download: the March Mix#3 right hereor get the new April 2016 Mix#4 here.

Every wondered what Orchid would sound like if they were peppered with Kaospilot and black metal? Well THE ULTIMATE SCREAMO BAND is your answer. Egotistical band name? Not in the slightest. THE ULTIMATE SCREAMO BAND is a solo project from Montreal's Guillaume Archambault with a hilarious name that pokes fun at the genre as well as the fact that it's not even a band, as it's all Guillaume. Very sarcastic and I love it.

I first met Guillaume when he was playing drums for Nous Étions tour and they came to my house before playing the Congratulations release show back in late 2014. A truly amazing person, we hit it off right away discussing screamo bands from Europe and whatnot. When he recorded 'La saison du champignon' he sent me the tracks and asked if Zegema Beach Records would like to help out and I was truly humbled. The 7" is limited to 60 copies on lathe cut clear vinyl and are being sold at cost at around $15CAD (aka about $11.50US) and will not be repressed. Realizing the high cost due to really amazing diy packaging by Guillaume all parties involved decided to sell at cost, expecting only true fans to purchase one. You can grab one from the ZBR distro here or grab one from the other labels involved if they haven't sold out already, as I am down to about five as of this post. The 60 original/unique blue covers with binding ribbon and killer 90s style lyric book look amazing. My friend Shaun from Adorno Records and Thisismenotthinkingofyou also released this on cassette with different artwork which you can check out here.

THE ULTIMATE SCREAMO band will be recording more material in the near future and I'm extremely pumped, for songs such as "La raison du cabochon" and "Repenser" tear through their entirety of unrestrained chaos in less than two minutes combined. If you haven't given this project a chance I would strongly, strongly recommend you jam the embedded songs below. Orchid fans rejoice, this shit is killer.

Label(s): Self Released / Onto Entertainment / Elektra / CO5 Music / Burning House Records / DaytrotterThis post's artist is from the March 2016 Mix. This is track #5.

You can download: the March Mix#3 right hereor get the new April 2016 Mix#4 here.

FENCES is included on this blog because of a song on the Mansions split 7" that I picked up back in 2010 because I love me some Mansions. FENCES song on the 7" sounds a lot like Mansions, heck even the split name of Mansions and Fences go together. The acoustic, soulful song really hits the spot for a sunny, relaxing day. Then I went to write this review, saw a bunch more stuff released afterwards that I had no idea about and decided to check the new album out called 'Lesser Oceans'. Bleh. Overproduced with weak lyrics and boring compositions, I regretted ever putting FENCES on the blog mix. Listen to "Marketplace" and maybe even the early 2010 work from his self-titled album (which I still don't really dig), but otherwise I'd stay away unless you like cheesy, boring mainstream music...says Dave.

Wednesday, 16 March 2016

I first met Jesse online after some screamo talk in random facebook communities and an order or two he placed on the Zegema Beach Records website. After about a year I realized how much we had in common and he showed me the band he was in at the time, called Altar Of Complaints (reviewed here), which blew my mind. After deciding that мятеж was going on tour it became paramount that we acquire a bassist so I asked my first choice Jesse Mowery. He agreed and we bonded like little kids at school during those two weeks in the mid-Eastern United States, some of which can be seen/heard in the мятеж tour documentary (linked here). Nearing the end of the tour we talked quite a bit about staying in touch and doing a split or two together in the near future. So, voila. Below is a review and exclusive song premiere for "So Far To Go" from the APOSTLES OF ERIS and The World That Summer split cassette that will be released on April 29th, 2016 by Zegema Beach Records (north america) and Dingleberry Records (europe). APOSTLES OF ERIS is not only a band Jesse is in, he is the entire band! That's right, another screamo solo project keeper, right here.

Jesse had this to say about the track "So Far To Go" which is embedded next to his statement.

"So Far To Go" is commentary on the current social
and political environment in the US. The lyrics don't go in depth enough for
how I feel about it, so here's sort of what fueled the song for me. This
country continues to call itself the greatest country in the world, yet in the
past few years it has become more and more obvious how much more work is needed
to be done here. Growing up I was aware of many of these issues already due to
the environment I was in, but many deny that racism is still very much is
alive, don't believe that sexism is even an issue, and think that the
"American Dream" is a real thing and we can all get rich if we just
work hard. It's difficult for me to believe how blind some people are about
these things, especially with the rise of discussion about police brutality,
economic inequality, and of course the current poll leader of the Republican
party, but it seems like a lot of people don't go out of their way to see
things from a different perspective, or to care about things unless they have
some effect on their lives. While I'm glad a lot of these things are being
talked about more, we still have so far to go to truly be the "land of the
free". It's 2016, things should be better than this.

1 - "So Far To Go"

The song begins heavy as fuck. There's no other way around it. The opening breakdown is dirty and thick and is slathered in distorted/screamy vocals that lead to a very Slayer and Metallica guitar driven section that culminates at 1:25 with some spacier and melodic stuff mixed in with the heaviness, which could be comparable to Alpinist and early Old Man Gloom. The song is definitely worth a listen and at 3:23 it's not going to take all night. Awesome, awesome stuff!

2 - "A Growing Emptiness With a Sense of Completion"

The shortest song on the APOSTLES OF ERIS side, this banger is over in a mere 1:43 but the combination of savage screams and catchy riffs doesn't let up for the entirety of the track. This is most reminiscent of earlier Envy, I'd say.

3 - "B.S."

This instrumental track is layered over spoken word from Robert Anton Wilson about acquiring new information and filing that within a predetermined mental schema as well as a lack of accepting and utilizing new information, thereby stunting any evolution needed to progress. At least, that was my interpretation of it.

4 - "Putting Faith Into Fantasy"

I may be biased, but I love this song. Jesse asked me to put some vocals to a song and this happened to be it. At 4:43 it delves into many genres including Euro-screamo (Daitro, in particular, comes to mind), bass-heavy, neocrust/emo-violence and dreamy post-hardcore. We both set vocals to our extreme distaste for religion and the systemic sexism, racism and general lack of reasoning that stems directly from an ancient and silly ideas.

I was crazy lucky enough to have Thom Carney from the band MOTHLIGHT hit me up for an exclusive premiere from the band's upcoming tour tape EP. Be sure to listen to "Drawing Out the Dead Ends" below, their bandcamp page as well as their upcoming tour with Gas Up Yr Hearse, during which they will be selling the new tour cassette. I've reviewed the EP below and the exclusive stream is embedded below so listen to it while you read.

"Fiction Becoming Reality" starts the tour tape off in disjointed yet melodic fashion. The screaming and jazzy chaos weave in and out until the halfway point and then some slower but no-less epic instrumentals lead way to the final 20 seconds which have the song imploding in on itself. Song two is called "Immutation" and it gets going just before the 30-second mark and is a fucking stellar track. The lead guitar on this isn't too far from Gillian Carter and Neil Perry territory which does a hell of a lot more than tickle my fancy. After the craziness subsides at a little over a minute the song is led by rolling drums and heart-beating bass which culminate at 2:20 in fantastic fashion until the close at 3:08. The last new song is called "Drawing Out the Dead Ends" and it was my pick to post as a premiere because it's unbelievably good. In 2:58 MOTHLIGHT dismantle a lot of screamy hardcore booby traps by showcasing some truly intriguing and engaging music that jumps all over the proverbial board of genres. You've basically got one minute of amazing screamo, a minute of softer ambient stuff and then a final minute of utter annihilation. I don't need to say anything else about this because you can jam that shit above or open it in a new tab here. "House of Salt" is the only non-new song on here, but it was re-recorded for this release. It's also my favourite song off of their 'Momento' EP, which I've linked here.

Monday, 14 March 2016

It's been too long since the last OMSB Podcast so my wife and I spontaneously did another podcast to fill in the gap before the Josh Jakubowski interview/podcast goes up. It's pretty short, running 30 minutes over three 10-minute parts that are both streaming and downloadable for free on bandcamp (linked here and below). Enjoy!

You can download: the March Mix#3 right hereor get the new April 2016 Mix#4 here.

THE TONY DANZA TAP DANCE EXTRAVAGANZA is a math and death metal band that plays dizzying instrumentals (not unlike Psyopus) with a variety of screams and growls (Into The Moat, yep) that makes this band the entire package of heavy ass metal wizardry. But let's not be naive, if you've heard one TONY DANZA TAP DANCE EXTRAVAGANZA song then you've pretty much heard them all. I'm usually really good at distinguishing between songs and/or seeing a song title and being able to recite parts of the song, but with this band I literally couldn't repeat or remember any parts from any songs, save the introduction to "Big Pun's Not Dead Because I Just Saw Him At the Krispy Kreme".

I've posted the best songs from each album (according to moi) for you to check out because I don't really know what else to say about the band other than they have crazy songs, have had numerous lineup changes (although the sound has stayed pretty much the same), label their albums as II, III and IV, and all of them are barely distinguishable from each other where my ears are concerned, but that doesn't stop them all from kicking ass. I'll close with my ranking of the albums should you choose to buy/download one:

Label(s): Self Released / Ape Must Not Kill Ape / Pretty In PinkThis post's artist is from the March 2016 Mix. This is track #7.

You can download: the March Mix#3 right hereor get the new April 2016 Mix#4 here.

Sometimes gritty, sometimes pretty, THE LAST FORTY SECONDS released a slew of stuff from 1999-2001 and then disbanded. The related acts section above is fucking stupid good, I mean Ampere, Wolves, The Saddest Landscape and Anton Bordman in the same band seems, to put it simply, unrealistic. It's certainly worth mentioning that with members sharing vocals, the band tends to levitate towards that vocalist's sound, as the songs that feature Andy sound quite a bit like older The Saddest Landscape while Stephen's songs are much more akin to Montcalm.

In 1999 they released a 4-song demo which is quite decent but has a song called "Consumed" that is by far the heaviest thing the band ever wrote, and it comes across as sounding kind of like Joshua Fit For Battle. In 2000 they dropped the 12"LP that houses the band's best work, including "My Favourite Actor", "Cutting Down the Glare" and "Waking From the Dreamdate". 2001 was the year of THE LAST FORTY SECONDS' dissolution as well as their two final split 7"s with Sundowner and Trillion Barnacle Lapse which are both good but don't hit as hard as the LP. The band's sound can very easily be explained as a mixture of soft and hard 90s emo/screamo. Plain and simple. Check the for fans of list for further comparisons, but if you enjoy the stylings of Maximillian Colby, Tipping Canoe and Indian Summer grab the mp3 download pronto.

Tuesday, 8 March 2016

***FACILITY exclusive 3-song premiere***

New Jersey's screamy hardcore/emo-violence/grind group FACILITY are unleashing three new songs from their forthcoming 'Year One Discography Songs' cd that you can pick up on the band's tour with Vein. Said tour, in case you are absolutely blind, is posted above this text. These songs are fucking unreal. "Beneath the Pillar of Light" begins and ends as an instrumental intro of sorts leaning heavily on ringing bass notes, angular and driving guitars and swelling drums. "The Shape of a Soul" is a slap in the face after such a lulling opening track as it bleeds in from the previous song and then crashes around with scorching drums until after 30 seconds when it builds on itself and then explodes into breakdowns that are at first massive and then massively beautiful. "An Anchor Hanging From Heaven" blasts out of the gates and is utterly pulverizing for the first 25 seconds of the song and at one minute shit gets out of hand in a real good screamo/emo-violence way that'll leave you praying you were on the tour route. Alas, I am not. Damn.

FACILITY - "Beneath the Pillar of Light" exclusive premiere!!!

FACILITY - "The Shape of a Soul" exclusive premiere!!!

FACILITY - "An Anchor Hanging From Heaven" exclusive premiere!!!

Tyler from the band had this to say about the songs:

"These songs were written prior to our July tour in 2015.
They are the last songs written with the original four piece line up of the
band. This was the first time we attempted to write, what were for us, more
complex parts and try new things. While they're very raw and trip up a little I'm still proud of them. If you saw us over the summer you definitely heard
them live. These songs will be available on a Year One Discography Songs on our
upcoming tour with Vein. They will be /100. We hope you enjoy them as much as
we once did."

In 2015 FACILITY released a 4-song EP, a split with An Anecdote and self titled cassette EP. Jam them and download everything for pay what you want at the FACILITY bandcamp site linked below.

Label(s): HumaniterroristThis post's artist is from the March 2016 Mix. This is track #1.

You can download: the March Mix#3 right hereor get the new April 2016 Mix#4 here.

I first got into SHORT HAIR because of a review I read on a website and they compared the band to The Blood Brothers. They were spot on about some parts of the band and I'm damn ass glad that I checked them out. And guess what? If you like The Blood Brothers you should too, especially 'We Buy From the Children'.

'Poltergash' is a disjointed soiree of awkward riffs, noises, vocal rumblings and overall sound, in my opinion. They certainly hit on the sound I love but they also focus an excessive amount of effort on the weird instead of the sassy and heavy. The bass on this release and the following 2008 effort 'Short Hair' EP (not the live one!) which also suffers from inconsistencies, is groovin' and one of the best things about the band's early existence. Some good examples of the sweet bassin are "Onwards and F-Words" and "Short Hair vs. The Reversable Convertable". Both albums kind of end up sounding like a mix of Elvis and very early The Blood Brothers.

2009's 'We Buy From the Children' is without a doubt the band's crowning achievement as they finally shed the wasteful sections that dragged the songs down. The songwriting is much more fluid and interesting, but it is rarely predictable. It begins with the phenomenal and very The Blood Brothers-esque "Shark Mountain" that rides out the sass for 30 seconds before swinging around the full-on screams. The instrumentation and vocal delivery are seriously The Blood Brothers, but this mutated clone does a damn fine job of it and the track is also the band's best work. If you start anywhere, start with the album, this song and try not to sing along to "I'm innocent! I'm innocent! I'm innocent! Shark mountain!" The song "Group Hugs" follows at nearly four minutes of eerie post-punk and it is apparent rather quickly that the band has varied up their style, giving two very different songs right off the bat. "Dying Telephone Birds" is a romping good time of playful guitars and bass with strip the paint off wood screams, all of which isn't too far from The Jonbenét and Kill Sadie territory and is over in 1:33. "Hhalf Drank" is a somber and mildly depressing experience with a few rays of light amidst the darkness and acts as an instrumental interlude. "Short Hair vs. The Reversable Convertable" is another decent, sassy song that leads way to the closer "The Overgiver", which sounds a helluva lot like the best These Arms Are Snakes material crossed with The Blood Brothers and it's bliss. Goddamn.

In 2008 the band entered a $10 per person space to record five songs in 10 minutes at the Experience Music Project in Seattle. The live recording isn't the best quality but as is explained in the word document accompanying the digital files this was never the point. All of the songs are previously released and it's worth checking out once but you'll want the proper recordings if you like any of the songs. This was released as 'Short Hair' but is referred to as the 'EMP' record.

In 2012 they released a cover of "Walk Like an Egyptian". I'd pass on that.

So there it is. SHORT HAIR were a very interesting and varied band with some crazy high vocals and great bass riffs. 'We Buy From the Children' is worth checking out for any fan of spazzy, screamy and sassy hardcore. Fuckin' "Shark Mountain", man. Goddamn.

You can download: the March Mix#3 right hereor get the new April 2016 Mix#4 here.

TUSK was a pre-Pelican outfit from Chicago that began as a grind/hardcore band and over time morphed into an experimental/post-hardcore group over the course of six years in the early to mid 2000s. I dig some songs by TUSK but I shall let my opinion be known that the band doesn't captivate me all that often. Regardless, they are definitely worth checking out...especially the good songs!

In the beginning...there was hardcore/grind and pre-Pelican during the two songs located on the 'Hewhocorrupts split' 7". These two songs are menacing, angry and dirty with "Depraved Perspective" taking the cake as one of the band's best songs of all time, as it blasts its way through with speedy sludge/hardcore with some excellent contrasting dual vocals.

....then came the metallic hardcore and thrash album 'Get Ready'. It was initially released in 2002 as a 9-song album and later re-released with 7 additional bonus live songs from WZRD. This is my personal TUSK teddy bear, as it houses the most complete set of songs that also happen to tickle my fancy more than the other releases. "Get Ready", "A Animal Has a Nice Day" and "So Long, Farewell" are all ear candy and a much more honed sonic approach from their 2001 debut but goddamn, that "Six-Act Descent to the Lower Reaches" is epic as shit. Clocking in at 4:15 it begins with rolling, sludgy and down tuned metallic hardcore with multiple people bellowing out vocals and crushing breakdowns. This is one of most Pelican-sounding songs with a shit ton of heavy vocals so fans of that band will truly appreciate the instrumentals while getting a taste of what they would have sounded like if they weren't straight up instru-metal.

...then there was the doomy and experimental hardcore of 'Tree of No Return' which I was not really a fan of, as it sounds unfinished and not very cohesive, especially when compared to, hmmm...every other release. Not a single song is redeeming for me, but maybe one will be for you. An interesting note in terms of track length, the first two releases generally kept all songs to under three minutes, this release houses songs at the one-minute mark as well as the final two which surpass 8 minutes and the final record has four songs that average out to nearly 10 minutes per song.

...and finally came ambient, mostly instru-metal and very experimental album 'The Resisting Dreamer', which sounds like Pelican on insane drugs tripping out over 5ive and Old Man Gloom simultaneously. Songs such as "The Everlasting Taste of Disguise" sounds like later era Pelican with spoken/stoner vocals that ends up skimming Slint and Worst Gift territory at the three-minute mark. My personal favourite from this final record is "Life's Denial" which is a dreamy tapestry of spacey riffs and ambiance and is also quite reminiscent of...you guessed it, Pelican.

I acquired a few very sweet TUSK posters from 'The Resisting Dreamer' which are unfolded and posted at $2 CAD (that's almost like a fucking dollar US). I've linked that here.

Past Week

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OPENmind/SATURATEDbrain

Link to www.zegemabeachrecords.com/omsb-talentSubmit your band's material if you think it jives with this blog and I'll post it on the record label site for listeners to preview. Just send an email with "OPENmind/SATURATEDbrain" as the title and a link to your music and I will do the rest.

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